Changing China

Snowboarding the Bird’s Nest

Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” stadium, the tangled steel structure that starred as the focal point of the 2008 Summer Games, has been dressed up for winter in hopes of drawing post-Olympics visitors — and their cash.

Transformed into a winter-themed sports park, the stadium — which in its glory days packed some 80,000 cheering spectators into row after row of seats — now includes snowboard and ski slopes inside the inner ring, as well as a short toboggan tube, all covered in man-made snow.

But judging by the turnout on the opening weekend, when media representatives outnumbered paying visitors, this white Christmas wonderland faces a tough challenge to escape the stadium’s legacy as a big, white elephant.

The 180 yuan entrance fee (about $26) is one barrier to making the snowy playground a financial success. A young mother who brought her son said she reluctantly paid the fee only because the stadium has a special status among China’s famous cultural sites. Other visitors said they were taken aback by extra fees charged inside the venue.

Families got into the spirit, posing in front of giant Christmas-themed snow sculptures and were treated to a variety show featuring the standard Chinese lineup of Kung-Fu displays and acrobatic routines. Even so, set against a backdrop of fake snowy mountain peaks cradled by the stadium’s empty seats and steel girders, the show was a dull reminder of the venue’s spectacular Olympics opening and closing ceremonies that dazzled the world in 2008.

-Reporting by Beijing newsroom

Photo credit: The Bird’s Nest stadium, which has been rarely used since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has had machines making artificial snow to cover the infield to create the winter playground at a cost of around 50 million yuan (US$7 million) in an effort to attract more tourists during the quieter Christmas and Chinese New Year season. REUTERS/Loic Hofstedt

Reuters reporter catches a ride with F1 champ Button

Beijing based Reuters Sports Reporter Nick Mulvenney gets the ride of a lifetime in the passenger seat of F1 Champion Jenson Button’s race car, for a whirlwind tour inside Beijing’s iconic Bird’s Nest stadium. 

Video credit: Kitty Bu and Wang Shubing

from The Great Debate (Commentary):

Shenzhen’s “Bird’s Nest”

If you want to gauge the current state of China's construction boom, look no further than Hong Kong's dynamic neighbour, Shenzhen.  Defying the searing heat of the Chinese summer, construction workers are busily building a state-of-the-art stadium for the 2011 World University Games.

I was there last week on a five-day tour organized by Guangdong Province, and the stadium was the first stop, indicating how intensely proud officials are about the "Lotus Flower" stadium.

The 60,000-seat venue looks strikingly similar to the Bird's Nest national stadium, the world's largest steel structure and the centerpiece at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Now, local media boast that the Shenzhen stadium, designed by a German architectural firm, aims to outshine the Bird's Nest because the engineering is said to be even more challenging. 

The whole games village project is a powerful symbol of municipal pride. It is set to cost a whopping 4.1 billion yuan ($600 million), all of which will be financed by the city government of Shenzhen.

Snapshot Beijing, 7: Bolt breaks the unbreakable world record

My abiding memory from these Games  will be watching Usain Bolt give everything he had to break a world record most of us had thought unbreakable.

Michael Johnson’s time of 19.32 in the 200 metres had never been seriously challenged before the Jamaican sprinter, a headline writer’s dream, decided it was finally time to get down to some serious work.

Bolt had won the 100 metres, and broken the world record, with ridiculous ease on the Saturday to set the Games alight. He was running so well that he had time to ease up well before the line and still record a commanding win.

Wednesday was different. Again, he had the race won well before the line, thanks to a brilliant bend, but there was no question of him slacking off as he hurtled down the straight. I could see him grimacing with pain as he neared the finish line before looking over to check the time.

The clock stopped on 19.31 but times are often rounded up or rounded down and there was a second or two to wait before we would find out whether he had broken Johnson’s world record or merely equalled it.

Those seconds seemed a long time for me — heaven knows what Bolt must have been feeling — but eventually the time was rounded down to 19.30. It was an incredible achievement for the Jamaican and a memory I will treasure.

This is the seventh and last in our series of Beijing snapshots — moments from the Games that will live long in the memories of all who witnessed them.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 1: Matt Emmons, by Erik Kirschbaum here.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 2: Matthias Steiner, by Sophie Hardach here.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 3: Usain Bolt in the 100m, by Paul Majendie here.

Read Snapshot Beijing, 4: Matthew Mitcham, by Emma Graham-Harrison here.

Usain Bolt wins 100 metres — your views

Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the Olympic 100 metres on Saturday, shattering the world record in the process with a time of 9.69 seconds.

Bolt thumped his chest in celebration as he crossed the line, after leaving Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago (silver) and American Walter Dix (bronze) trailing at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

Asafa Powell finished out of the medals, while Tyson Gay was eliminated in the semi-finals.

Bolt had looked capable of running an extremely fast time as he ambled through the heats and so it proved in Beijing on Saturday as he pulled off a win that will live long in the memory.

But what do you think of his achievement? Let us know in the comments. We’ll have more on this later, but for now, here’s another photo:

Instant expert: the men’s 100m

The athletics is underway, at last, and the three favourites Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay all came safely through their heats this morning.

This is the race everyone will be talking to in the build-up to Saturday’s final so we thought we’d give you the chance to sound like an expert without have to leaf through the record books.

Mitch Phillips, swimming’s favourite reporter , tells you five things you knew but may well have forgotten about the best race in the world. Click on the video above.

View from the Bird’s Nest

We’ve given our blog a new name to go with its fresh focus on the Games, now that the bulk of our team of reporters, photographers and TV crews have assembled in Beijing.

Our reporters are blogging regularly with news and views from the greatest show on earth and we’ll be showcasing the pick of reports from Reuters and around the web.

We’re hoping for plenty of input from you, too. Comments are open on all posts so please give us your views on anything and everything Games related, whether you’re here in Beijing or following the Olympics on TV or the web.

If you are in China, we’d be particularly interested in your first-hand experiences. How are you coping with the humidity? Is the smog getting to you? And how are you enjoying the Games? 

I’m also adding a blogroll featuring sites we like, so if you have a Games-related blog, send as a link and I’ll look at putting it in our list.

Kevin Fylan, Beijing

The Beijing Olympics in Lego

I know this has been out for a while, but with just a few days to go to the start of the Games I couldn’t resist a link to this exhibition of the 2008 Olympics in Lego.

The Bird’s Nest looks fantastic… Must have taken Olympic levels of patience and dedication. Hats off.

Photo from Design You Trust – well worth a look because there are plenty more pix there.

Beijing’s moving artists

In the unlikely event Parkour ever becomes an Olympic sport, at least the hosts won’t have to build a venue.

“The art of moving” is an urban pastime that involves getting from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible and overcoming obstacles using only the human body.

It started in the suburbs of Paris but has spread to cities around the world and, like many Western imports, has ended up in Beijing.

The one-month countdown begins

    It’s a month to go! So, we sent our reporters out onto the street to speak to ordinary Beijingers to find out how they and the city are coping.

    ”I didn’t have much interest in the Olympics before the Tibet riots. After that I became to think: All right. If you guys are so keen to make us look bad, we’ll have to get things done even better. After the earthquake, I felt really sad and at one point even thought that it might be good not to hold the Games any more. But the reality is the country has poured in so much manpower, materials and money to prepare for the Games. As the Chinese saying goes, ‘there can be no turning back once the arrow is on the bowstring’.” – Zhao Qian, 26, a public relations officer for a European company

    “The Olympic Games is a national glory. I really look forward to it. Beijing has changed a lot in the past few years. The roads have become wider and the city cleaner. Terrorist attacks? I am not worried about that. Our country is strong enough and those who operate in the dark for bad things will be scared.” – Zhang Quanyi, 45, taxi driver

    ”I am not going to watch the Games in the stadiums and I am not able to. What can I do with the 700 yuan ($102) I make every month? I also have to pay for my daughter’s education.” – A female street cleaner in her 40s on her morning shift to clean a street outside the Chaoyang Park in eastern Beijing, where Olympic beach volleyball matches will be held.

    “It might be inconvenient during the Games as I cannot drive my car everyday, but I am happy and excited about the approaching Olympics.”- Zhou Wenjin, 46, a government worker